A sneak peek at our new exhibition, Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre

Join Josh Davis for a first look at our new exhibition, Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre. Take a sneak peek at the gallery and ask your burning questions before we open to the public on 24 May.

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The Natural History Museum in London is home to more than 80 million objects, including meteorites, dinosaur bones and a giant squid. Our channel brings the Museum to you, from what goes on behind the scenes to surprising science and stories from our scientists.

[kieronbotting]

This was wonderful. I'm currently living in Mexico. The Museum has been my Happy Place ever since i was a child. I was even a member for a few years. This livestream has given me a little slice of home. Thank you thank you thank you!

[pattheplanter]

Do you have an example of a Great Auk in the exhibition? Sadly, finally driven extinct by collectors for sale to museums and private collections. The desire for rarities sealed its fate.
The fluorescence of the owl's plumage would mean no ultraviolet reflects from it, as well as adding to the red seen by a bird observer. It would look different from a red pigment which also reflects ultraviolet. I used to have a tree (Clerodendrum trichotomum - don't plant it, it will burrow under your house and come up in the kitchen) with intensely blue berries, not only did they have a powerful blue pigment but they absorbed ultraviolet and fluoresce in blue. The calyx behind them reflected UV and red, the leaves reflected UV and green. The contrast to a bird would be very obvious.
These combinariions of UV and other colours would be like purple for us, except they have five purple-like combinations: UV with each combination of the other colours as well as very white and human visual white.

[lesleymckenzie]

The Red Kite wasn't completely extinct in UK, there were a few breeding pairs in Wales back in the 1980s. I drove there from London just to see them.

[gailh]

Really interesting and well worth watching. Thank you. I'm going to book a ticket now!

[MrMrbeast]

Have you viewed the exhibition in ultraviolet light?

[stephengent]

A lot of wrong information here. There are many birds at fewer than the number quoted for the Philippines eagle. Apert's Greenbul has less than 200 individuals for example. Red kites remained in Wales, They never were wiped out I wish these experts knew what they are talking about

[patty]

Like noises, eggs plumage, mating ECT